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Mike Malone chugging beers and predicting back-to-back titles.

VIDEO: Ronda Rousey versus Marshawn Lynch... on MARS?

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett enters his second year in the NFL looking to close the gap between himself and the league's elite

MADRID Ferrovial's decision to move its holding company to the Netherlands to try to speed up a U.S.

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are assembling for a parade Thursday through downtown Denver to celebrate their first NBA title

Sources close to Sheikh Jassim have declined to comment on a report that Manchester United are considering granting exclusivity to the Qatari in the race to buy the club. Sheikh Jassim made a fifth and final bid for the club last week and it is being reported that his offer is viewed more favourably by the club’s owners, the Glazer family, than a rival bid from Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe. However, the Sheikh’s team indicated nothing had changed from earlier in the week when a report from Qatar suggesting Sheikh Jassim had won the race to buy United was described as “pure speculation” by one source. The report on Thursday suggested that, if exclusivity was granted to Sheikh Jassim by the club, it would shut out the Ratcliffe bid for as long as the exclusivity period lasted. Sheikh Jassim’s bid has always been to buy 100 per cent of the club. It has been reported that Ratcliffe was offering to buy 60 per cent, allowing Avram and Joel Glazer to retain a combined 20 per cent, but the Ratcliffe camp has declined to comment on that point. Trading in Manchester United shares on the New York Stock Exchange was temporarily paused due to “volatility,” though shares resumed trading shortly afterwards, and were up 12 per cent on the day. A new company, Nine Two UK Holdings Limited, was also incorporated in the UK on Thursday as part of Sheikh Jassim’s preparations should his bid be successful. The PA news agency understands the paperwork was submitted months ago, with sources insisting the incorporation was simply part of getting things in order rather than an indication Sheikh Jassim’s offer had been accepted. The documents published on the Companies House website list Sheikh Jassim as an individual person with significant control of the company. He is listed as one of two directors, alongside Abdulrahman Abdulla Al Ansari. Al Ansari is also on the board of the Qatar Chamber, which describes itself as a non-profit public organisation whose mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Qatar. Companies House says all shares in the new UK company are owned by Nine Two Holdings LLC, which was registered in Qatar in April. The listing confirms Sheikh Jassim was born in April 1982, making him 41 years old. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

All the fixtures between the Premier League's leading seven clubs during the 2023/24 season.

Aaron Ramsey is hoping to scale his next Euro 2024 qualifying challenge before climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales within 24 hours. Wales skipper Ramsey will lead the Dragons into battle against Armenia and Turkey and then turn his attention to the National Three Peaks Challenge and ascending Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Yr Wyddfa on Wednesday. The walking distance is 23 miles and total ascent 10,052 feet with a driving distance of 462 miles. “I am fully focused on the Welsh games, but we get back and fly up to Scotland and start there first,” said Ramsey, who is embarking on the journey with 10 others to raise funds for the @its.neveryoucharity created in memory of six-year-old Hugh Menai-Davis who died from rhabdomyosarcoma in September 2021. “The plan will be to do that and work our way down to Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa). “It’s for a cause that’s really close to my heart as a good friend of mine lost his little one. “So, I’ll be putting on my walking boots and trying to get my way up those mountains. ”Let’s just focus on these two games first, and get to the top of the table before the Three Peaks.” I’ll be putting on my walking boots and trying to get my way up those mountains Aaron Ramsey on his Three Peaks Challenge Wales host Armenia in Cardiff on Friday before meeting Turkey in Samsun on Monday. Rob Page’s side are looking to build on a promising start to the campaign in March when they took four points from two games, a 1-1 draw away to World Cup semi-finalists Croatia and a 1-0 home victory over Latvia. Ramsey said: “We got off to a fantastic start after a difficult World Cup for many reasons. “It was important for us to hit the ground running, away to Croatia. It has set us up quite nicely now and we’ve got some momentum going. “But football can change very quickly and we’ve got to treat the Armenia game with respect. “They’ve been dangerous in certain periods of their games, they scored a very good goal against Turkey for example. “But it’s all on us. We are at home, fans behind us and we have a game plan.” Wales are at full-strength with Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies back after missing the March qualifiers and Neco Williams cleared to play after breaking his jaw in April. The Nottingham Forest full-back has taken a full part in training and manager Page confirmed that there was no need for him to wear a protective mask. Williams’ Forest team-mate Johnson has been the subject of a reported £30million offer from Brentford and Page insisted it will not be a distraction for the 22-year-old forward. Page said: “He is a great lad and he has got a great support network around him. “I know his dad (David) – I used to play against him – and I know the messages his dad will be giving him. “I was impressed with the way they conducted themselves in January when his head could have been turned. “He could have had the opportunity to go to one of the so-called bigger clubs, and he didn’t. I thought he made the right decision for his future. “He’s a level-headed lad, he’s sensible. His focus will be on this game on Friday.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Pat Cummins backs David Warner against England as Australia turn down the volume Home support can be Malta’s 12th man against England – ex-player David Carabott England batter Dan Lawrence to join Surrey from Essex on three-year deal

The Geminids meteor shower began in a “violent catastrophe”, scientists have found. Every winter, the world is delighted by the meteor shower, which brings some of the most intense display of ‘shooting stars’. But that spectacle has been rivalled by its mystery. The Geminids are unusual in that most meteor showers are created when a comet leaves behind a tail of ice and dust – but the Geminids come from an asteroid, which do not usually leave behind a tail. Asteroids are chunks of rock and metal flying around in space. The Geminids appear to originate with one called 3200 Phaethon, which for an unexplained reason is affected by the Sun and leaves behind a stream across the night sky. “What’s really weird is that we know that 3200 Phaethon is an asteroid, but as it flies by the Sun, it seems to have some kind of temperature-driven activity,” said Jamey Szalay, research scholar at the Princeton University space physics laboratory and co-author on the paper. “Most asteroids don’t do that.” Attempts to solve that mystery have struggled in part because the meteor shower has only been observed from Earth. Now, however, researchers using Nasa’s Parker Solar Probe have been better able to examine the the Geminids. They suggest that a violent, catastrophic event gave rise to the meteor shower. That could have been a high-speed collision with another object in space, for instance, or a gaseous explosion. Some researchers have previously suggested that 3200 Phaethon might really be a comet, and that it lost its snow to leave behind just a rocky core that looks like an asteroid. But the new study makes clear that the origins of the meteor shower are much more dramatic than that. In an attempt to understand the meteor shower, researchers simulated three possible formation scenarios and then compared them with models based on observations from the Parker Solar Probe. That included a less violent scenario, a more violent one, and another that was in line with a comet. When they compared those scenarios with the actual observations, they found that the violent one was the most similar. That suggests that it was the result a collision or similar dramatic event. Researchers still do not know for sure what happened. But the new study helps narrow down the possibilities – as well as shedding more light on such events in space. The findings are published in a new article, ‘Formation, Structure, and Detectability of the Geminids Meteoroid Stream’, published in Planetary Science. Read More Watch live as astronauts step out of ISS for latest spacewalk Major finding boosts hope for finding alien life in our solar system Astronomers find rare planet circling two stars like Star Wars’s Tatooine

A most different U.S. Open has begun

Malta’s home support at the Ta’ Qali Stadium can be their 12th man and ruin England’s hopes of a third-straight Euro 2024 qualifying win on Friday, according to former player David Carabott. The 122-cap veteran has a contentious claim to being Malta’s only ever goalscorer against England, after his penalty struck a post before rebounding in off goalkeeper Richard Wright during a friendly in the capital Valetta, 23 years ago. FIFA officially credit the goal – which drew the tiny Mediterranean island nation level after Martin Keown had scored for Kevin Keegan’s side – to then Ipswich keeper Wright, who was making his international debut. And Carabott had a chance to write himself further into his country’s folklore with a second spot-kick in the 88th minute to earn an unlikely draw, but this time Wright saved with his feet. Emile Heskey had already scored his first England goal to earn a 2-1 win, but it was an underwhelming finish to the team’s Euro 2000 warm-up schedule as the team laboured against a nation with a population of under half a million. Carabott, who finally signed off his international career in 2005 as the county’s third-highest goalscorer with 12, says Malta have made strides in the more than two decades since England squeaked past them, and that they have spirit in the squad to frustrate Gareth Southgate’s team. “What I can guarantee is that Malta will give England a hard time,” said Carabott. “They will put them under pressure, they will frustrate them, they will try to break the game, stop England from scoring early. “The longer that passes, the more frustrating it will become for them, nor for us. That’s where we will find our motivation, courage and fighting spirit. “We have a supporters club now that make a big difference to us at home, the ground will be a good asset for us. It can be the 12th man.” Malta are ranked 172nd in the FIFA ranking -, sandwiched between Bermuda and Moldova – but like many smaller European sides, they have become more competitive since the inception of the Nations League in 2018. They went down 2-0 after a battling display against European champions Italy at the Ta’ Qali Stadium in March, days after pushing Euro 2020 qualifiers North Macedonia all the way in Skopje, eventually losing 2-1. The team have followed the blueprint of other UEFA members in looking for talented players abroad with eligibility for citizenship, in the expectation that regular game time in bigger leagues will ultimately benefit the national team. Most notably the 33-cap midfielder Teddy Teuma, born and raised in France, played a key role as Union Saint-Gilloise came within a whisker of winning the Belgian title in 2022. The 29-year old will miss the meeting with England through injury. OK, we are tiny, but when we have to prove ourselves against a great nation like England, we can rise to the occasion David Carabott “Three days ago, Malta beat Luxembourg 1-0 away,” said Carabott. “We competed with them and beat them. They’re about 70 places above us in the rankings. “We’re getting more competitive, we’re exploring a lot of other talents with Maltese citizenship that play abroad, because our national league, the level is not that high. “When you can use players who play abroad, where the structure is on another level. “We have Teuma playing in Belgium. He makes all the difference for us, you see the level he is at, how high it is compared to the others.” Despite the passing years, Carabott still recalls vividly the day he almost snatched a famous draw for his country against England. “It was fantastic to show that we are Malta. OK, we are tiny, but when we have to prove ourselves against a great nation like England, we can rise to the occasion,” he said. “The people in the street after that game (were optimistic for the future) but in football it depends on the opposition. We played England, we had nothing to lose, it was a beautiful day and we performed brilliantly. “I cannot say that in the years since we haven’t improved, or we have not made headlines at home. “Improvement is being made and our national team have been doing well, but to compete against such great national sides as England, Italy, Ukraine and Macedonia – we know it’s a very, very tough group for a country like us.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live W Series enters administration after three seasons England batter Dan Lawrence to join Surrey from Essex on three-year deal Leighton Clarkson set to join Aberdeen on permanent deal

Softball pitching sensation Jordy Bahl has announced she is transferring to Nebraska after leading Oklahoma to its third straight national title